


Breathe.

by kledi



Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21736888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kledi/pseuds/kledi
Summary: Living in a dream but its dark like a nightmare.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. The (Almost) Perfect World

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This will be in chapters and i'll try to update it as much as i can! Also, if you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me them <3

\- 21st February 2015

6am and the alarm goes off. Darlene instantly wakes up as she hears the piercing tone of that dreaded wakeup call. Raising her hands towards her face, she gently rubs her eyes as she lets out a deep sigh knowing what kind of day is ahead for her. She doesn't leave her bed straight away, though. Instead, Darlene stares up towards her ceiling and examines the patten of her art she put up there the day before. "No, thats not right" she says to herself, slowly getting out of bed before she climbs on top of it to sort out the obvious gap between the images. Keeping a perfect balance, she starts to move them around one by one and trying as hard as she can to not ruin any of them. "Shit!" she shouts. She's accidentally ripped one of her favorite art works she has ever worked on. It was a watercolor of the most beautiful place in existence. It was, in fact, the only place Darlene could go to when she felt like she needed space and some time to breathe. She carefully climbs back down onto her hard wood floor, feeling the cold against her as she stares hopelessly at the image that now cannot be saved. Darlene, although she fronts as a 'dont mess with me' kind of bitch, deep down she has this soft side she only lets out when she is alone. Its easy to tell that this destroyed but yet still special painted image of her favorite place is somewhat affecting her emotions. She cant quite pinpoint if shes feeling sad about the rips, angry at the fact that it happened or entertained at how easily such a strong piece of paper could tear that easily. After all, it has been through some things stronger than just a small replacement such as that time where Darlene accidentally dropped it in a puddle, or when she decided to set her coffee on top of it every morning before she finally had the idea of putting it up. 

"Well... this day has started great, huh?" she says to herself sarcastically. Rubbing her eyes one more time, she starts to make her way into the bathroom but she cant stop thinking about that image. "I'm going to need something as equally as beautiful to replace that empty space now" she thinks to herself while she grabs the comb and runs it through her long, brown hair. Darlene starts zoning out just staring at the mesmerising way the comb moves up and down. The feeling of being free and careless, a feeling Darlene has been longing for her whole life. Suddenly, a loud knock comes from the door, followed by it swinging open and an excited Angela running in with paper in her hands. "what the fuck Angela?" Darlene screams as shes suddenly been pulled out of her daydream. "Sorry sorry," Angela apologises as best as she can while feeling the level of excitement she's experiencing right now, "Its just that i found this flyer attached to a tree, and i dont know why anyone would attach a flyer to one of mother natures most wonderful creations becau-" Darlene stares dead in Angela's eyes, cutting off her sentence with "Angela, stop rambling, what's the flyer about?" Angela stares at Darlene, forgetting for a minute the whole reason why she bursted into her roommates room in the first place. "Oh yes!" Angela loudly exclaimed, "Its for this new bar that's just popped up in town! There's an opening night and i thought we could both go as like a fun friend thing to do!" by this time, Angela is practically jumping with joy with every word she says, the smile on her lips cant get any bigger than it already is. "You know i hate those things" Darlene mumbles as she walks straight past Angela and into her closet, "besides, im too busy today. I have to replace a painting and get some things from the market so i can try making that pie for us later, and dont forget elliot is joining us for dinner" Darlene starts undressing as she chooses out her favorite black jeans and dark green shirt. "Whoa Darlene im still here!" Angela says, covering her eyes from seeing Darlene undress. "Dude," Darlene replies, "Its just a human body. No shame here. mother nature made me this way, man." Darlene laughs as she slips her clothes on and closes her closet to see Angela raising her eyebrows at the fact Darlene subtly mocked her but she cant be angry at it, for the simple reason as she has done the same to Darlene almost every day about her art.

Leaving the bedroom, Angela is behind Darlene still begging her to go with her to the opening night tonight. "Come on, you'll enjoy it! And you never know, you might even find a lover tonight" Angela jokes as she pokes Darlenes arm. "No way. No lovers. Just me and my art" Darlene replies, distracted by the thought of how love would feel with the perfect person but also being terrified of falling in love and having it fail on her. "Pleeaasseee" Angela starts doing her cute puppy eyes at Darlene, knowing she's never been able to resist them in the past and shes not going to start now. "Ugh fine" Darlene sighs, but if i start hating it, i will leave and you'll owe me 2 cases of beer." Angela stares for a second, shocked at the fact Darlene agreed to go but happy she's at least going to give it a chance, even if it is just for Angelas entertainment. Darlene notices the relieved smile on Angelas face and quietly giggles to herself. They have been roommates, best friends and practically sisters for years now. every time something happens, the other one is always there straight away to help and support. This is what makes this special for Angela. She knows Darlene would be way out of her comfort zone but the fact that Darlene is going to try something new just for Angela brings a huge smile to her face and a warm feeling in her heart. The sound of the fire alarm ringing quickly brings them both out of their own little daydream. "Fuck fuck!" Darlene starts shouting. Scrambling around the kitchen to find the closest thing there is to help put the fire out. All Angela can do is scream "my sausages!" as she frantically starts blowing air in hopes it would help the situation at all, and even though there's a fire, Darlene still has time to question Angela's lack of braincells before putting out the fire using the useful way. 

8am, Darlene grabbing her bag and her art supplies as she hurriedly makes her way out of her apartment, accidentally bashing her head into the doorframe. "We seriously need to get that fixed!" She shouts to Angela as she grabs the door to close it. "No," Angela shouts back, "You just have a big head." Darlene heard that comment before she fully closed the door and mumbled "you little bitch" under her breath before making her way down the stairs. The lights in the hallway were dim and the walls were marked with pen and 'inspirational' quotes Darlene always has to see every time she makes her way outside. She only hates those quotes because she secretly wishes she could apply them to her life but in her current situation, she has no motivation for that much positive thinking. Darlene finally reaches the bottom of the stairs and accidentally bumps into Leon holding his newly adopted pet puppy. "Dude im so sorry!" Darlene says as she backs up and giggles quietly to herself. "No big deal man its chill. This is Weed. I got him yesterday and im currently waiting to collect all this new dog shit i ordered. What are you doing?" Leon asks as he looks down and sees Darlene holding a very worn out and used bag. "Just gonna sit at the river and paint. Thinking about a few things." Darlene can trust Leon with her true self, knowing he's always there to help or comfort if she has an issue she feels like she cant go to anyone else about. He's more like a brother to her and their bond is so special and unbreakable. Darlene pets Leons new puppy as she smiles and feels the soft fur against her skin. For a split moment, a sense of calm and safety washes over her and all her worries seem to disappear. She's snapped back into reality when Leon finally speaks up and says to her "I'll catch you around some time! If you see my boy Eli, tell him im always up for a game whenever he wants." Darlene nods as she opens the main door and starts making her way out. The air hitting her, the sounds of the city and the animals within. A perfect day for her to just chill out doing the thing she loves the most.

11am, Darlene starts putting her art supplies back into her bag as she gets ready to find a place for some lunch. The brushes and palettes perfectly fitting into their designated areas of the bag, Darlene slowly standing up to admire the view of the lake for the last time before she sets off on her adventure to get food. Taking in the beauty and calmness of the flowing water and the sound of the birds chirping beside her. "Maybe this will be my new beautiful image" she says to herself as she starts walking towards the dirt path to the main roads. The busy city noises bring her back to the familiar senses of what she calls 'home'. The feelings of never being physically alone, always being entertained by something happening and the smell of the gorgeous food she loves the most. Finding the perfect place to sit to eat, she makes her way inside to order her food. The typical fries with cheese on top. Without thinking, she swings the door open and hears a loud voice scream as she quickly turns around to look behind her and sees this tall, redheaded woman holding her nose. "Dude why were you so close behind me?" she asks in a bitchy tone, knowing deep down she cares but she cant show that side of her to a stranger, right? "First of all, 'dude', I was the normal space away. You swung that door so far to Jupiter you need to calm with that arm strength" the redheaded woman replied, still holding her nose as she rolls her eyes at Darlene. "Is it broken?" Darlene asks, not sure what to do if the woman said yes but still feeling like she needed to ask. Maybe the soft side was slowly bleeding through and she couldnt stop it. "I dont think so," the woman replied, "It just hurts like heck." Darlene steps to the side, outside away from the door and gestures for the woman to follow. "Sit down," she says, "Let me have a look at it." The woman grabs one of the outside seats and sits down as she looks up at Darlene. "Are you a doctor?" she asks. "Hell no," Darlene replies, "but i've definitely had my fair share of broken bones. Im Darlene by the way." She holds her hand out as if to shake the other womans hand. The woman was hesitant at first, but she slowly took Darlenes hand in hers and started to introduce herself. "Im Dom," She says, noticing she accidentally got blood on Darlenes shirt, "Im sorry I'll pay for that to be cleaned for you." Darlene looks down and starts giggling to herself, "No worries man its just a drop i've dealt with worse things," she says as she examines Doms nose, "Its not broken but its definitely going to be a huge hell of a bruise tomorrow." Dom closely watches the way Darlene asses the situation, in awe of how caring the woman is who almost decapitated her 5 minutes ago. Darlene realises its probably rude to be talking down to Dom instead of being at her eye level, so she sits down opposite of her and tries to make conversation other than talking about the very obvious injured nose. 

"What's that?" Dom asks, seeing the bag with the paper peeking through the top. "Oh haha uh ha its nothing is just art its nothing haha" Darlene starts getting embarrassed. She loves art but shes not so confident in her own skills. Especially when theres an opportunity of someone else looking at it and judging it. "You paint? Thats so cool!" Dom wanted to see the art but she could sense Darlene wasnt comfortable with that, so she thought its best to let Darlene show her in her own time when or if she feels like she wants to and is comfortable doing so. They sit there in silence for a few minutes, just listening to the surrounding sounds and trying to think of the best way to say goodbye without it being so abrupt. "So," Darlene starts, "I've kinda lost my appetite now haha." Dom smiles, "Me too, honestly. I only really came here to do something. Anything. Staying home alone gets so boring sometimes." Darlene understands exactly how that feels. Wanting Dom to not feel so lonely, She offers to show Dom that cool lake she was sitting at earlier. "Oh that sounds amazing! Are you sure you'd want me there? I might get revenge for you bashing my nose" Dom giggles as she really hopes that joke lands well with Darlene. Not truly knowing it, but being somewhat aware she wants to make this woman laugh. Is it because shes sweet? Beautiful? All these thoughts rush into Doms head before Darlene speaks up and says "Haha Im really sorry about that. The offers there if you want to join, even if you want to get revenge." Dom sighs with relief at the fact Darlene got the joke and didnt take it to heart. "I would love to" Dom replies almost instantly, feeling slightly embarrassed at how quickly she said that and how excited she sounded. Dom just really wanted to see this lake with this beautiful woman. "Fuck," Dom thinks to herself, "Did i just call her beautiful? It wasnt out loud so thats ok. Still, fuck i cant be thinking this." Dom shakes the thoughts as Darlene tells her to follow her as they make their way back to the lake Darlene wanted to desperately show her new friend.


	2. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2! probably some grammar errors or whatever but ignore that (:

Perfect green grass, the sound of the water rushing over rocks, birds making a beautiful song, all these senses captivate Dom as she sits down onto a bench and starts undoing her laces. "Dude what are you doing?" Darlene asks, looking confused while Dom proceeds to take her socks off. "Listen," Dom replies, "you can see true beauty, thats fine, but feeling it and sensing it in other ways than looking? Thats another level." Dom puts her socks and shoes onto the bench as she makes her way to the edge of the river, at first, dipping her toes in before up to her ankles are covered in water. Darlene slowly and hesitantly walks towards where Dom is and stares. Confused? Fascinated? Darlene feels all these feelings but cant quite pick out which one is strongest. "Come on, Darlene. its fun" Dom says. Darlene could hear the excitement and happiness in Doms voice and decides to join her. Stepping into the cold water, Darlene feels the shock of the change in temperature and as she goes to step back onto the grass, her foot slips, the rushing water ruins her balance and she can feel herself falling. Dom grabs Darlene before she could be carried away by the water, helping her stand up safely and keeping hold of her hand so she doesnt fall again. "I said feel the water, not go swimming" Dom laughs while Darlene catches her breath and grabs tight onto Doms hand. She wants to laugh with Dom, but, looking into the womans gorgous eyes, she cant seem to form any words. Their fingers intertwined with one another, their eyes not being able to look away and their warm breath forming a mist in the cold air, they cant seem to think of anything else other than that exact moment. Suddenly, a voice comes from behind them. "Not to ruin your love birds special moment but, Darlene, its 1pm." They looked back and saw a person standing in all black with their hood covering their head. "Oh fuck" Darlene quickly climbs from the lake, finding her shoes and sliding them on. "Listen," she says, looking towards Dom, "6F, end of the street, join us later for dinner." Dom, still standing in the water, nods at Darlene as she knows for sure she wont be turning up to some strangers apartment, but still appreciating the offer. "I gotta go i promised my brother here, Elliot, we could go to the market to get the food for later." Darlene smiles at Dom while she grabs her bag and makes her way towards Elliot. Dom watches the 2 people leave. Smiling to herself for a few minutes before she gets ready to go back to her house.

4pm, Darlene pushes the door to her apartment open while her and Elliot carry in bags containing things they got from the market. "Change of plan. No pie today, we're making cakes instead" Darlene calls out as the door shuts behind them and she sets the bags onto the counter. "Cake???" Angela asks as she leaps over the couch, making her way to the counter and rummaging through the bags. Baking is definitely not one of Angelas skills but Darlene knows how much Angela loves trying and loves eating cakes. While all this is going on, Elliot quietly opens the door and slips out unnoticed. He starts climbing up the stairs leading to the next floor of the building, pulling one hand out of his pocket to knock on the door in front of him. Immediately after, he hears barking followed by the sound of the locks turning and Leon opening the door, causing Weed to run up to Elliot and instantly beg for cuddles. "Weed get back in here and let Eli sit down first," Leon says as he waves for the dog to come back, "where'd you manners go, man?" he mumbles at Weed as he runs past Leon and jumps onto the couch. Elliot just watches, a little smile on his lips as he hears what Leon says to the dog. "Come in come in, mi casa es tu casa" Leon says to Elliot as he steps aside to let him enter. Closing the door behind him, Elliot sits on the couch with weed and starts petting him as he jumps on his legs. "What you here for, man?" Leon asks, "Not that i dont appreciate it or anything, you know you're welcome here any time. my space is your space bro. you alright?" Elliot nods, looking away from Weed for a second to look at Leon. "Alright. Good. Hey i got these new CDs if you wanna have a listen. Your opinion over anyone elses" Leon states while he hands Elliot a small bag of CDs, Weed curiously sniffing the bag and Elliot takes it in his hands. Elliot goes back to petting Weed as Leon continues talking about music, games, everything that interests him and although Elliot doesnt say much back, he really does enjoy and appreciate the time Leon gives him. Knowing Leon is his person to go to when he needs anything doing, when he needs a chat or just doesnt want to be alone and likes to listen to the sound of Leons voice. Its soothing to Elliot.

Back downstairs, Darlene helps Angela to bake those cakes. "How many eggs do we need?" Angela asks Darlene as she makes her way to the refrigerator. "2 eggs" Darlene shouts back, pouring the flour into the bowl and causing the dust to fly into the air as she frantically tries to clear it before she chokes on it. "Here" Angela says as she puts the eggs down onto the counter next to Darlenes bowl. "Angela," Darlene sighs as she looks at the eggs, "How many are there?" Angela looks down and counts the eggs, "exactly 4" she says while pointing at them. "And how many did i ask for?" Darlene asks as she disappointedly looks up at Angela. It takes Angela a minute to process but in the end all she can manage to do is gasp. "Oh! 2." Angela picks up the excess eggs and puts them back into the fridge. Darlene zones out while mixing the batter, thinking about the lake, the woman she met earlier and the painting from this morning, only to be pulled back into reality when the oven beeps. Angela grabs a spoon and starts pouring the batter into the tin as this is her favorite part of cake baking. The tin finally goes into the oven, the door closes and both the women sigh of relief. "Oh," Darlene says as she grabs a small, pink bag from the other bags, "I got this for you today. Not sure if you already had this crystal but it looks nice i guess." She hands it to Angela, who immediately grabs it from Darlene and hugs her as hard as she can. "Heck, i love this so much!" Angela cries while observing it in her hands over Darlenes shoulder. Angela loves crystals more than life itself and the fact that it was a special gift from Darlene makes this so much better. She puts it with her other crystal collection, right in the center for everyone to see it. "Dude thats so sappy" Darlene says with a smile while she watches her best friend place the gift she got for her. A knock at the door brings that moment to a stop as Darlene goes to open it. "Who is it?" Angela calls out, not looking back because she is too busy placing her crystals. "Probably just Elliot" Darlene replies, opening the door, expecting only her brother on the other side of it but finding Leon and Weed with Elliot instead. "We smell food" Leon says as he steps into the apartment, going straight to the kitchen. "Its not done yet!" Angela shouts as she runs across the room to stand in front of the oven, "Besides, MY cake." Darlene raises her eyebrows at Angela and signals for her to step aside. Angela does so, saying "but i GUESS we can share" with a sigh and crossing her arms.

One more knock at the door, Angela opens it to see Dom standing there in front of her. "Sorry we dont want to buy a bible today" she says as she closes the door on her. "Who was that?" Darlene asks, walking towards the door. "Just some redhead trying to sell me bibles" Angela replies, walking past Darlene and back into the kitchen. "Fuck" Darlene says as she immediately opens the door, seeing a confused Dom standing in front of her. "Im sorry that was my roommate. We're baking a cake with friends if you want to come in?" Dom stares for a second before replying, "I dont know. I probably shouldnt have even come haha im sorry I hope you enjoy the cakes though!" She looks down at her hands and starts playing with her fingers. "Hey," Darlene says, holding onto one of Doms hands, "Its fine, honestly. We cant eat it all ourselves anyway. Besides, theres a reallly cute dog inside." She smiles at Dom, noticing Doms hand squeezing hers. "I mean, i dont know how anyone can pass up the opportunity of seeing a really cute doggo" Dom says as she smiles back at Darlene. Nervous at the thought of so many strangers in one room but feeling comfort from Darlene being there, holding her hand and also Dom really loving dogs. They both enter the apartment, Darlene bringing Dom into the kitchen to introduce her to her friends. "And finally, this is Leon. Hes kind of the glue of the group" Darlene says as she pokes Leon. "Whats up? If you need anything, im your guy. From illegal substances to porn magazines" Leon says as he shakes Doms hand. "I- Im a cop" Dom nervously states while looking at Leon. "Well," he says "totally joking about the illegal shit." Angela pipes up from across the counter, mouth full of cake, "Your dog is literally called Weed, Leon." Dom laughs as she starts to feel a little more comfortable in this crowd. "That means nothing, Angela. No correlation at all" Leon replies while he feeds more cake to Angela as if to stop her from saying anything more incriminating about him. The conversations continue. Laughter, smiles, Darlene still holding Doms hand the whole entire time. 8pm, Dom, Elliot and Leon decide its time to leave and go back to their own places. Dom is last out the door, with Darlene behind her. "Thanks for coming" Darlene says with a smile. Not wanting Dom to leave so soon but knowing Dom is getting tired. "It was fun i really enjoyed it" Dom replies, hugging Darlene as she goes to leave. "Maybe we can meet again tomorrow? by the lake. if you're not doing anything?" Darlene asks, feeling her heart racing a bit faster than usual. "Yeah, maybe we can" Dom says back, walking down the stairs and into the night. Darlene goes back into her apartment, closing the door behind her with a sigh and a smile.


End file.
